Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what are the current costs of obtaining (1) short-term work visas, and (2) certificates of sponsorship, for EU citizens seeking to work in the UK; why there are different charges for citizens of different EU member states; and whether this policy reflects the UK’s commitment in the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement to treat the EU as a bloc for short-term visit visas.

Details of all Immigration and Nationality Fees are published on gov.uk at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/visa-regulations-revised-table/home-office-immigration-and-nationality-fees-31-january-2021.

The UK has long standing arrangements in its legislation for the nationals of countries which have ratified the 1961 Council of Europe’s Social Charter (CESC) to qualify for a fee reduction for visa applications to come to work in the UK.

Nationals of the 26 countries which have signed and ratified the CESC are eligible for a reduction of £55 to their application fee if they are applying for a visa under a work route. Where the applicant is required to have a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) from their employer, the CoS can be issued free of charge.

Details of the routes which qualify for a reduced fee are published at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fee-arrangements-for-cesc-nationals/fee-arrangements-for-cesc-nationals.

The fee reduction of £55 only applies to the main applicant, it does not apply to dependants.

There is no visa requirement for EU, EEA and Swiss citizens visiting the UK for up to 180 days. The UK-EU TCA obliges the UK to treat all EU citizens as a bloc for the purposes of imposing any short term visit visa requirement.